The two-time GP winner who never raced an F1 car

Formula 1 is about to reach 1000 world championship races, but 11 of the 'grands prix' on that list were something of an anomaly. This is the story of the greatest hero of the years the Indianapolis 500 was ostensibly an F1 race

One of the most talented drivers ever to win a world championship round never drove a Formula 1 car and only ever appeared at one circuit on the calendar. Among the many anomalies thrown up by the Indianapolis 500's presence on the first 11 F1 calendars is that Bill Vukovich sits alongside the likes of Elio de Angelis, Patrick Tambay, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Pedro Rodriguez and Wolfgang von Trips in the statistics as a two-time 'F1' race winner.

A desire to give the newly-established F1 world championship a more global flavour was behind the Indy 500's inclusion on the schedule from 1950-1960, as was a hope that it would encourage more crossover between the European and American racing scenes. Ultimately little of that occurred, and as F1's own races became established in Argentina and the United States itself later in the decade the Indy 500's purpose on the calendar was superseded.